Tag Archives: In Saturn’s Rings

This being the start of a new year I thought it might be apropos to share some of the movies I’m looking forward to seeing in 2014.

Of course Godzilla. I am in a state of heightened anticipation for the new Godzilla movie. Legendary Pictures, which did Pacific Rim–so you know the special effects will be superlative; has teamed up with Warner Brothers to produce a new Godzilla movie. Unlike the Sony/Tristar pictures Godzilla (Notgodzilla) of 1998 this Godzilla looks like Godzilla. From what I’ve seen of the trailer and the snippets of teasers released so cleverly at the Godzilla encounter web site, it looks like director Gareth Edwards and writers Max Borenstein and Dave Callaham have returned to Godzilla’s roots.

Once again Godzilla is a force of nature, an avatar for nuclear destruction and war. Also very territorial so that Godzilla doesn’t so much save humanity as defend his turf from interlopers and invaders. Rather than a benevolent and perhaps even friendly (ugh) creature as we saw in the 70’s, Godzilla is once again a terrifying titan stomping over the Earth. Due for theatrical release on May 16, I am already counting down the days. Actually I don’t have to, Godzilla movies.com is already doing it for me. Please enjoy the trailer. It played on the big screen before The Desolation of Smaug.

In Saturn’s Rings

Next up is a little independent film called In Saturn’s Rings. I wrote about this previously and I’m still excited about it. Filmmaker Stephen Van Vuuren has taken in excess of 1.2 million still photographs of Saturn and our solar system as taken by NASA’s Cassini, Hubble and other space craft and is threading them together in an amazing movie about the wonders of our universe that will culminate in a flythrough of the Saturnian system. It’s spectacular to watch and the beauty is not only a testament to the wonder of our universe but also the painstaking care of the filmmaker in putting these together with innovative visual techniques he invented himself. The film is being made in 6k resolution and will be shown on massive concert screens, IMAX and dome screens.

In Saturn’s Rings has already reached it’s Kickstarter goals but they can still use donations, this is an independent film. It is set for release sometime in 2014. I’ll be keeping an eye out for it because I’m really looking forward to seeing the completed film. This is the trailer and it is breathtaking.

How To Train Your Dragon 2

How To Train Your Dragon 2 is coming out in 2014 and I got goosebumps once again watching Toothless and Hiccup fly in the trailer.

Also:

Avengers: Age of Ultron. Oh yes. I’ll be seeing this one. Joss Whedon is once again at the helm and I’ve been a Marvel girl forever.

Interstellar, directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Anne Hathaway, looks like it could be a good science fiction romp. This movie involves a wormhole which space farers use to travel vast distances. With such a sparse plot overview to base anything on I’d have to give it even odds. If they play it straight it could become a classic of the genera. If they don’t trust the material or the idea and throw stuff in to make it more “exciting,” it’ll be another Sunshine or Event Horizon.

The Edge of Tomorrow, starring Tom Cruise, also looks interesting, although with a premise that could lead to confusion and ruin the impact the movie is going for. If the writers and director handle it right it could be a classic, if they don’t it’ll sink. While that is technically true of every movie, any movie where time travel or reincarnation is a major plot point carries a higher inherent risk than more straightforward, linear movies.

Guardians of The Galaxy, yeah I’ll give that one a try. It always reminded me of the Justice League a bit and I never really warmed up to it. Speaking of the Justice League. There’s Supposed to be a Justice League movie coming out. I haven’t been as impressed by the DC attempts at making their comics into movies but Batman and Superman were good and it’s about time Wonder Woman made an appearance. Maybe this time DC will treat the woman like a human being as opposed to self-propelled eye candy for men ala Catwoman. That would be a vast improvement.

X-Men Days of Future Past also is on the list. I was an X-Man fan before I became a Marvel girl and I was very disappointed with what they did in the third movie of the first attempt to build a franchise out of this team. I hope they stay true to the characters.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Amazing Spider-Man 2, and Transcendence are others I’ll probably check out. Ant-Man rates a solid “Meh” in my opinion. I’ve never liked the character and I actually despised him when he beat and tried to murder Wasp. I don’t think wife beaters are heroes, I don’t care how you try to spin it and I don’t care what else they do, the fact is that they are bullies and monsters.

Now most of these movies I’ll end up watching when they hit DVD or Netflix. I don’t go to many movies in the theater so it’s kind of a big deal when I do. I will see Godzilla and In Saturn’s Rings in the theater and also the Avengers: Age of Ultron.

While not likely in 2014 I keep hearing whispers of a sequel to Pacific Rim. You can rest assured if that ever becomes official I will be all over it.

Those are some of my picks for movies to see in 2014. I hope everyone of you has a year filled with hope, love and opportunity. K.

This simulated view from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft shows the expected positions of Saturn and Earth on July 19, 2013, around the time Cassini will take Earth’s picture. Cassini will be about 898 million miles (1.44 billion kilometers) away from Earth at the time. That distance is nearly 10 times the distance from the sun to Earth. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

I love NASA. I really do. Astronomy has always fascinated me. One of the most beautiful pictures to come from NASA is the picture shot by Cassini in 2006 of Saturn backlit by the sun. I’m sure you’ve seen it before. Well on July 19, 2013 the Cassini spacecraft is going to take another photo of Saturn backlit by the sun and the Earth is going to be in the shot. A great deal of care must be taken when shooting a photograph like this because there is danger of blinding the cameras when looking back at the sun. Because of this pictures looking back towards the heart of our solar system are very rare. In fact NASA has only taken 2 of them. For this special third photograph NASA would like to make special by including all of us. The fine folks at NASA want us Earthlings to take pictures of ourselves waving at Cassini and send them to NASA via social media. You can read the details at the official NASA website.

Those who follow along on my blog will know that I’m also keeping track of an amazing movie coming out in 2014 called In Saturn’s Rings. They’re taking IMAX quality photos of Saturn and other objects taken by Cassini, millions of them, and creating a breathtaking real animation of what it would be like to go to Saturn. They also want your pictures of you waiving at Cassini and they want to put them in their movie. You can send your photos to their email at nfo@sv2studios.com

In Saturn’s Rings Waive at Cassini Promo

Also keep an eye on comet ISON. And you can do that real time at this fantastic website: The Sky Live. ISON is a new visitor to the inner solar system.

Here’s the deal, and it is kind of a big deal; this November the solar system is putting on a show for us. A new comet will make its appearance in the fall and is called ISON, official designation C/2012 S1, named after the International Scientific Optical Network. According to NASA this is ISON’s first trip into the inner solar system. ISON was discovered in September of 2012 by Russian astronomers Vitali Nevski and Artyom Novichonok. What’s amazing is that we only just discovered this comet less than a year ago.

ISON is swinging towards the sun right now and is expected to pass very close at its perihelion. Once it comes around the other side, say around December, it may be bright enough to be visible to the naked eye even through the light pollution of being in a city. There is some speculation it might be visible during the day. Astronomers are hesitant to make any promises because it’s impossible to tell what will happen when ISON goes around the sun but there is a good chance it could be huge.

Yep the teaser trailer for In Saturn’s Rings showed on July 15th at an IMAX theatre. Wish I could find out more for you, gentle reader; looks like the Wells Fargo IMAX in Marbles NC for now. I hope this spreads to other theaters. Do check them out and give them a like on Facebook if you are interested. I’ll keep you updated as I can. K.

Also in Pacific Rim news it looks like the movie took in just over $37 million from Friday to Sunday of its opening weekend, according to boxofficemojo.com. It came in behind Grown Ups 2 (imagine a cat shaking its paw in disgust after putting it in a puddle or something–that is how I feel about that movie). It also came in behind Despicable Me 2, which was cute and much more of a young kid friendly movie than Pacific Rim so there’s no shame there. Third place is pretty good for Pacific Rim although I must confess I had hoped it would take first place, as fans are wont to do. Now we can only wait and see if there will be enough interest, and by interest I mean enough movie tickets bought over the next few weeks, to justify a sequel; because I would really, really like to see one. K.

The good news is that more and more media outlets are picking up the story about In Saturn’s Rings. There was a feature article on Entertainment Weekly this past week. Check out their Facebook page and give them a like.

Legendary Pictures, responsible for Pacific Rim (I can’t wait for Friday!!!) is also hard at work on a new Godzilla movie. Check out my last update on it here. There are some exciting new tid-bits being revealed for the fans following the film. They’ve been showing some of the behind the scenes action, greenscreen shots and the like on their Facebook page or at their web site Godzilla-Movies.com. They’re going to be at the SDCC, natch, so look for cool reveals there and they’ve launched another website Godzilla Encounter to build more buzz about the movie.

SDCC Godzilla Promo

Just announced there will be a Godzilla panel discussion at the SDCC and they’ve released some info about that on their official site. I cannot tell you how I wish I could be at the SDCC.

Fans are already eagerly awaiting its release in 2014. I’m certainly one of them. Godzilla even looks like Godzilla from what I can see. None of that “not Godzilla” stuff that Paramount tried to get to fly.

Finally Pacific Rim. I am so excited about this movie. I’ve heard some rumblings that this was a risk for Guillermo del toro to take. To put a big budget into a niche movie is kind of risky but isn’t that what people are asking for? People complain that Hollywood doesn’t take risks anymore because they know that anything worthwhile involves some kind of risk. So are we also going to condemn someone with great talent and vision for taking that risk? I hope not. I suspect there are plenty of people who will see Pacific Rim. I also expect word of mouth to do wonders for it. Everything I’ve seen so far makes me want to see this movie more and more. I’ve got my ticket. I will be reviewing it. K.

Wow! Thanks to the inestimable Bob Eggleton I just discovered In Saturn’s Rings. I got goosebumps watching this trailer on my computer screen. I can only imagine how amazing, how overwhelming it will be on an IMAX screen. Filmmaker Stephen Van Vuuren has edited together and animated hundreds of thousands of photographs from the Cassini-Huygens space craft. This movie is made without special effects, just animating those photographs. Again, Wow.

Even more amazing, and true to the spirit of scientific discovery, this film is non-profit. These people and this amazing film are spreading the word about the wonders of science and they want to give us something to reach for again. They want to see humanity dream and that is a worthy goal. We are dreamers and we are curious. If we loose that, then we loose a piece of our soul, both as individuals and collectively as people. What I’ve seen is absolutely breathtaking and that these people are doing it for us, for humanity, for our future speaks to hope and to the best of what we can be.